Louis Berger Group completed a costly, condensed two-year program during which it upgraded its compliance and audit systems and functioned with the supervision of a monitor as part of its 2010 settlement with federal prosecutors of fraud and overbilling charges.Known as a deferred prosecution agreement, the program’s completion marked the end of a painful period for the company that included an initial $69-million settlement of fraudulent billing charges with the U.S. attorney in Newark, N.J.Based in Morristown, N.J., Louis Berger Group said in a statement Dec. 20 that it spent an additional $20 million since the initial settlement on new
ballengerconstruction.com Related Links: Ballenger Construction's First Day in Bankruptcy Court Ballenger Penalized for Road Project Lateness When Ballenger Construction Co., a well-known Texas contractor founded in 1937, sought protection from its creditors in federal bankruptcy court in Corpus Christi Dec. 7, equipment and material companies among the major creditors were left with millions of dollars in unpaid bills.But while those companies may have been surprised by the bankruptcy, one company that probably wasn’t is Ballenger’s main surety, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. It has been working with Ballenger since the summer first to try to sell the company and now to
Related Links: Trainor Glass Default Raises Questions About Sub Vulnerability (subscribers only) Judge Denies Tampa Bay Water a New Trial Against HDR Judge Acquits New York City Crane Owner After CEO Resigns, Millions of Dollars Still Missing (subscribers only) For many companies in the AEC sectors, business never seemed more fraught with risk and complication than in 2012. Lawsuits and indictments kept attorneys as busy as ever, especially as several legal matters reached the trial stage. Projects and risk management became more complex, while financial woes engulfed many recession-weakened small and midsize contractors. News of sputtering contractors rolled in at
Edel Rodriguez Are solid employer abuse complaint policies enough? Source: Society for Human Resource Managment Steps to take for supervisors and employers when sexual harassment complaints are received. Related Links: Viewpoint: Tell Bullies to Step Off Will Proposed Anti-Bullying Laws Bring a Wave of Lawsuits? You could call it "jerk control"—what companies do to prevent or prepare for the day an employee crosses the line and starts making racial, sexual or intimidating comments to a co-worker or subordinate. Solid anti-discrimination and abuse policies and complaint procedures have helped contractors prevail in many of the lawsuits filed against them.Whether that has
Illustration by Edel Rodriguez As part of a tabulation, analysis and review of lawsuits filed in the last decade, ENR found that most claims for sexual harassment, including those lodged over same-sex harassment by men, were defeated without a full trial or reversed on appeal. Research by Barbara Mende Ten years of data on construction-related sexual harassment lawsuits. Related Links: Judges Overturn Same-Sex Harassment Verdict Editorial: Justice Denied in Boh Bros. Same-Sex Harass Verdict Viewpoint: Tell Bullies to Step Off What Companies Do to Fend Off Abuse SPECIAL INVESTIGATION In the first few months of 2007, John Cherry worked on
Related Links: Post-Sandy Mobilization Shifts into High Gear New York Ponders Plan For Next Storm Structural Damage Assessors Decide Whether Storm-Damaged Houses Can Be Entered With NYC Tower Crane Secure, Plan Shifts To Recovery RMS Comments on Hurricane Sandy RMS Exec: Consistent Use of Catastrophe Model Key Claims by contractors and building owners under builders' risk policies could climb in the weeks following Hurricane Sandy, but the pricing for coverage of windstorms already had been adjusted in the last year, making rate increases less likely, say insurance brokers.For some brokers, a week after the storm is too soon to tell
Contractors and building owners may flood insurers with builders’ risk claims in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, but they haven’t started showing up yet, according to brokers.The full extent of the claims won’t be known for a while. “It’s too early,” says Paul Primavera, who heads the construction insurance operation for Lockton Cos., the insurance broker and consultant.Other brokers say the claims are inevitable. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a substantial number,” said one insurance broker outside the disaster area. Something half-built doesn’t stand up as well as something fully built, he notes, and “if the project involves
North Carolina Division of Coastal Management Bulkheads, similar to this soundly constructed one shown by the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management, proved to be a costly problem to Intercoastal Contracting. Related Links: NCDOT Announces Suspension of Bridge Work News Story on Intercoastal's Bankruptcy Filing Bankruptcy and the Completing Surety A North Carolina contractor lost a big lawsuit, ran into financial trouble and then stonewalled surety Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. for a short while before filing for protection from its creditors in U.S. bankruptcy court.That is the picture that emerges of Intercoastal Contracting Inc., a Castle Hayne, N.C.-based heavy construction
Related Links: After Engineer Declares Roof Sound, A Deadly Collapse 2010 Disciplinary Action Against M.R. Wright & Associates When it comes to inspecting old structures that may be damaged by water and salts, an engineer can rarely rely on visual inspection to provide enough information to justify a declaration that a building is structurally sound.But that is exactly what the engineer appears to have done twice in four years before a collapse at a two-story shopping mall and rooftop parking deck in Ontario. The second inspection was made two months prior to a June 23 failure that sent slabs crashing
Related Links: 2010 Disciplinary Action Against M.R. Wright & Associates Co. Aggressive, Owner-Oriented Approach to Liability for Inspection Mistakes New lawsuits target the engineering firm whose principals wrote the owner of a southern Ontario hotel and retail concourse that the roof parking deck above the shops was structurally sound two months before part of it collapsed June 23, killing two women.The families of Doloris Perizzolo, 74, and Lucie Aylwin, 37, filed suit Oct. 1 in Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Sault Ste. Marie for about $5 million against engineer M.R. Wright & Associates Co. Ltd., Sault Ste. Marie, and
